"If you obey all the rules, you miss all the fun." - Katharine Hepburn

Thursday, 28 June 2012

You will remember that in May, my friend Dwight passed away from cancer, leaving his wife and five kids, and a dental practice. The Trust that was set up in his name to benefit his family is holding a silent auction, "Auction for the Erricksons" to raise some additional funds, and I've donated a 90-day coaching package worth $1,500 to the cause! If you would be interested in bidding on this coaching package and working with me personally for 3 months (it can be life coaching, career coaching or writer's coaching - it's your choice what area you would want to focus on for the program), you can join the auction and bid here: www.32auctions.com/auction_registrations/new The ID is "lth" and the password is "dje". You may need to create a basic user account on the auction site in order to bid, but it's free and secure. 100% of all funds raised go to the trust, which will benefit the children's education (the oldest is 19 and the youngest is only 5). You can bid on the other items but they are all located in NJ and you'd either have to go and pick them up, or pay the cost of...
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Monday, 25 June 2012

You think this kid is texting on his iPhone... until you look more closely. That's when you realize... he's KNITTING. On the BUS. Not that there's anything wrong with that. Except maybe I'm jealous because I don't knit.
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Sunday, 24 June 2012

On our way earlier today to have Sunday lunch with one of Georges' sisters, accompanied by some of the kids... waiting at Gare Saint Lazare for our train. Not so crazy on a Sunday. PS this is a panoramic photo. Click on it and you can move from left to right. :)
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Saturday, 23 June 2012

While walking around during the Fête de la Musique the other night, Georges spotted this very large but quite lovely carved shell over a doorway on Rue Houdon near Pigalle. One of the things I love most about Paris is the architectural details you can find, everywhere you look (and often, even when you're not looking!) This one made an otherwise un-interesting building entrance a "wow!"
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Friday, 22 June 2012

Last night, we celebrated the 30th annual Fête de la Musique, where in cities and towns all across Europe you can enjoy entertainment from all variety of musicians. There were events scheduled all over Paris, from big concerts to street musicians. Montmartre is one of the best places to find the street performers (although there were a few concerts around, too) as nearly every street corner, place and many of the bars had musical acts of some kind, and if you can't get a table in a restaurant you can eat (and drink! Lots of things to drink!) right out on the street. We had dinner on Rue des Abbessess at one of our favorites, A La Pomponnette (because we had remembered to make a reservation the day before) opposite a small place with a DJ playing 80s music and a barbecue going on. (We were glad we weren't out on the terrasse as the barbecue fumes sometimes wafted over in that direction.) Then we took a stroll around the neighborhood to see what other musical options there were. Earlier, I had been at our rental apartment to do an early guest check-out and noticed that right on that nearest...
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Thursday, 21 June 2012

One of the reasons I've been a bit quiet the past week is that I've been working on a project, or rather RE-working on a project: losing weight. Of course, this is a topic that has come up on the blog over the years, and in my private life this is a subject that has occupied countless chunks of my time and energy since I was 15. For the past 15 years at least, I have struggled with the same 10 or 20 or 30 lbs up and down, and I was at least 50 or 60 lbs overweight on top of THAT to begin with. The reasons for all this are not worth going into at the moment. The net result is this, however: I am too fat and it is unhealthy, and it looks and (more importantly) feels terrible. There, I said it. I even bolded it. I debated long and hard about mentioning this here. This isn't really a blog about my personal struggles with my weight, it's a blog about Paris and travel and adapting to life (and love!) in France. And frankly, I think when you're someone who has been overweight for most of your...
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Tuesday, 19 June 2012

Here's something you won't see as a tourist in Paris: a public school-yard! (Click to enlarge and scroll side-to-side to see the entire image.) This is the Little Guy's elementary school courtyard; we were there yesterday for the big year-end spectacle for the "Cirque" after-school activity. The LG has done cirque for the past 4 years and since they're all graduating and going off to middle school next year (and he's going to a different school than most of his friends), this was their last big hurrah together. So I shot this panoramic image with an iPhone app called Demandar (DMD); I've only used it a couple of times but it does a pretty decent job if you hold the camera steady and turn smoothly. Wait, there's more -- you can see it interactively here! Just move the image below with your cursor to get the full 360-degree effect! School cantine in the glassed-in part, and the restrooms are to the right of the basketball hoop. I have nothing to compare this to as city school-yards go (in any city, having grown up in the country) but although this one is small, it doesn't seem half bad. They also have...
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Sunday, 17 June 2012

I had to get some quick "official" photos for my transit pass, so I ducked into one if those photo booths in the town hall after Georges got done voting today. You can't smile in these photos, plus I had on very little makeup, and I always wind up looking sad and tired. In contrast, Georges carries in his wallet the photo on the left, which was taken in a studio where I deliberately planned my wardrobe, hair and makeup. Huge difference! Then Georges pointed out that THAT one was taken a few months BEFORE we got married... So this is what 4 years of marriage looks like? I'd prefer to think not... And blame the crappy instant photo booth. Mugshots - 4 years apart
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Saturday, 16 June 2012

There is an organic market just down the boulevard des Batignolles from Place de Clichy, and today we finally got over there to check it out. Lots of good things to eat, but at those prices (10-14€ per kilo for fresh cherries when I can pay 6.99/kg at a small shop on rue Lepic?) we won't be shopping there often. We did buy some salmon for tonight's dinner and some of the 10€ cherries (because I am a cherry addict and need my fix while they're in season). Now we need to find a normal market in our new quartier.
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Wednesday, 13 June 2012

There's a little street called Rue de l'Ecole de Médecine in the 6th on which you can find an interesting small courtyard. Currently, this is the entrance to the Université Paris III, Sorbonne Nouvelle, which is just one of several "Sorbonnes" in Paris (ah, you thought there was just ONE Sorbonne, n'est-ce pas?) This particular Sorbonne focuses on the fields of languages, literature, art and social studies, and attracts many foreign exchange students. (Look here if this interests you.) And this location is the home of the Département du Monde anglophone - Master et Doctorat. I was there the other day with a friend who has studied there for her Master's in English Literature (ironically, the courses were taught in French), and who may soon be leaving Paris (we think: I'd say it's a 99% probability) so she's been trying to sell or donate a lot of her books to avoid having to ship them back to the States (or wherever she may end up next) in a few months. While I was waiting for her, I started to notice the lovely architectural details in the courtyard, starting with this domed building which I believe was once an amphitheatre used...
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